Restoring faded paint

oisin_t

Hi all I was wondering what is the best way to restore faded paint? I have a red integra and its quite faded all over. If I had the spare cash I'd get a full respray, but since thats not really an option here, any suggestions? Products on the store, or get a buff done?

bazz26

Cars have a good few layers of paint so it may only be the top layer that has been oxidized. Something like CarPlan T-Cut may restore it to it's former glory.

bladespin

Have you tried claying the paintwork?

oisin_t

bazz26 wrote: »

Cars have a good few layers of paint so it may only be the top layer that has been oxidized. Something like CarPlan T-Cut may restore it to it's former glory.

Thanks for the info! I'll wait for a half decent day before I give it a go!

oisin_t

bladespin wrote: »

Have you tried claying the paintwork?

claying?

bladespin

oisin_t wrote: »

claying?

Using a clay bar to clean/restore paint? Most enthusiasts will clay a car or bike once or more in the year, it's a great way to bring it to a showroom finish.

Often it's all a dealer has to do to improve the ask for a secon hand car.

more info

Owen

Clay bar will not restore paint. A clay bar is for removing tar, and films and such on the surface, but it will not restore the paint.

oisin_t

PaintDoctor wrote: »

Clay bar will not restore paint. A clay bar is for removing tar, and films and such on the surface, but it will not restore the paint.

It seems so. the article mentions noting about restoring colour, just removing dirt, tar and various things stuck to the paint.

kdevitt

bladespin wrote: »

Using a clay bar to clean/restore paint? Most enthusiasts will clay a car or bike once or more in the year, it's a great way to bring it to a showroom finish.

Just before anyone listens to this really dud bit of advice - if you merely clay the car you'll more than likely dull the paintwork further and make it worse.

As Paintdoctor said - claying is purely for removing contaminants from the paintwork. You need to cut the paint to bring up the shine - a random orbital polisher is the best bet for a beginner, followed by sealants and waxes. Alternatively you can pay the €250 / €300 or so to a pro detailer to do it.

bladespin

kdevitt wrote: »

Just before anyone listens to this really dud bit of advice - if you merely clay the car you'll more than likely dull the paintwork further and make it worse.

As Paintdoctor said - claying is purely for removing contaminants from the paintwork. You need to cut the paint to bring up the shine - a random orbital polisher is the best bet for a beginner, followed by sealants and waxes. Alternatively you can pay the €250 / €300 or so to a pro detailer to do it.

Apologies for any dud advice, worked for me on more than one occasion.

kdevitt

bladespin wrote: »

Apologies for any dud advice, worked for me on more than one occasion.

Sure it did

kdevitt

Here is the bonnet of one of my cars after a claying (looks great!):



And after the random orbital and some Megs:

Seperate

As kdevitt said, claying isn't going to remove oxidation.

A good polish is the only way to go. You could probably get decent results by hand short term. But in when the sun comes out and shines on the paint, it will be swirled to bits.

A machine polish and regular wax top ups would cure the faded paint and protect it going forward. You can pick up a machine polisher fairly cheap these days - practice on a bonnet from a scrap yard for a bit and then see how you get on at restoring your car.

It'll be a different car when finished!

bladespin

kdevitt wrote: »

Sure it did

I like shiny things

I clayed the paint and then gave it a good wash and waxed it a few times (ice), worked fine IMO, the colour wasn't very badly faded but I was impressed with the result.

oisin_t

kdevitt wrote: »

Just before anyone listens to this really dud bit of advice - if you merely clay the car you'll more than likely dull the paintwork further and make it worse.

As Paintdoctor said - claying is purely for removing contaminants from the paintwork. You need to cut the paint to bring up the shine - a random orbital polisher is the best bet for a beginner, followed by sealants and waxes. Alternatively you can pay the €250 / €300 or so to a pro detailer to do it.

Thanks for the great advice!

well il price up and see the costs! i know a panel beater pretty well so i can some kind of discount, but then again i might just do it myself!

oisin_t

kdevitt wrote: »

Here is the bonnet of one of my cars after a claying (looks great!):



And after the random orbital and some Megs:

If mine turns out anyway like that il be pretty happy! looks like a quality job!!

If the integra is from the 90s the paint is probably swirled anyway so using a good quality cutting product and a good quality wax by hand won't do any harm once you change the polishing cloth frequently and don't keep using the same part of the cloth. I had a red Prelude in the summer that was badly faded, it responded well to a cut and polish but it had to be repeated often enough, maybe if I used a sealing wax it may have lasted longer, I was only using Meguires stuff.

oisin_t

RoverJames wrote: »

If the integra is from the 90s the paint is probably swirled anyway so using a good quality cutting product and a good quality wax by hand won't do any harm once you change the polishing cloth frequently and don't keep using the same part of the cloth. I had a red Prelude in the summer that was badly faded, it responded well to a cut and polish but it had to be repeated often enough, maybe if I used a sealing wax it may have lasted longer, I was only using Meguires stuff.

Technically its 2000, but its the 90's model so lets not get held down with semantics!

But if the Prelude responded well then the teg should aswell!

sean1141

if your going to try restore it yourself invest in one of these..http://shop.cleancar.ie/Kestrel-DAS-6-Starters-Kit.html
these guys will give you all the advice you need. red is a bad colour if not waxed regularly as it will fade

edit follow up with a good wax!
try www.detailingworld.co.uk for some good tips and advice!

oisin_t

oisin_t wrote: »

Technically its 2000, but its the 90's model so lets not get held down with semantics!

But if the Prelude responded well then the teg should aswell!

A 10 year old has probably been through a brush wash loads so it's no doubt swirled anyway. A claybar will do no harm before you use the cutting stuff, it will clean the paint and make the cutting and polishing much easier. If you are going to buy a polisher, go for an electric one, the battery operated ones are a bit sh1t really.

I'll post some before and after pics when I get home, photobucket is not an option here at work.

oisin_t

RoverJames wrote: »

A 10 year old has probably been through a brush wash loads so it's no doubt swirled anyway. A claybar will do no harm before you use the cutting stuff, it will clean the paint and make the cutting and polishing much easier. If you are going to buy a polisher, go for an electric one, the battery operated ones are a bit sh1t really.

I'll post some before and after pics when I get home, photobucket is not an option here at work.

As far as i know its barely ever been through a brush wash! only had two owners and i know the last owner wouldnt go near one!

just waiting on the weather to clear a bit before I get to it!

Thanks for all the help! Il have to post up pics once its all done, although with the weather that could be a while....:(

Cyrus

just to make the point,

to do this properly it will need to be clayed first, no point trying to polish panels that are covered in tar and sap and other contaminents.

if you want it done right either goto the detailingworld and read up about it and buy a kestrel polisher from cleancar.ie

or pay someone to do it, and not your local panel beater,

it will prob cost as much to buy all the gear as it will to get it done but you will have the gear afterwards if you get me!

the lads at cleancar do details by the way their rates are very good

oisin_t

Cyrus wrote: »

just to make the point,

to do this properly it will need to be clayed first, no point trying to polish panels that are covered in tar and sap and other contaminents.

if you want it done right either goto the detailingworld and read up about it and buy a kestrel polisher from cleancar.ie

or pay someone to do it, and not your local panel beater,

it will prob cost as much to buy all the gear as it will to get it done but you will have the gear afterwards if you get me!

the lads at cleancar do details by the way their rates are very good

thanks you for your imput, but just out of intrest whats wrong with my local panel beater? hes a trained professional with 40 years experience? I mean its not as if hes one of the boys down the road whos handy like. One would hope he knew how to at least buff polish and wax a car properly?

sean1141

panel beating and detailing are two very different things. a panel beater will be more setup for finishing off fresh paint where as a detailer will have a better setup for removing scratches swirl marks etc. to restore paint is a different job to shining up new paint. a detailer will be more experienced at this as it his trade.

oisin_t

sean1141 wrote: »

pannel beating and detailing are two very different things. a pannel beater will be more setup for finishing off fresh paint where as a detailer will have a better setup for removing scratches swirll marks etc. to restore paint is a different job to shining up new paint. a detailer will be more experienced at this as it his trade.

fair enough! i do know this panel beater has done this kind of thing a few times (big intrest in classic cars, hence lots of restoration) which is the only reason why i'd trust him.;)

But just wanted to know the reason not trying to be picking or anything! :pac:

Seperate

oisin_t wrote: »

fair enough! i do know this panel beater has done this kind of thing a few times (big intrest in classic cars, hence lots of restoration) which is the only reason why i'd trust him.;)

But just wanted to know the reason not trying to be picking or anything! :pac:

You can just ask him how long it will take. If he says anything less then a day or a day and a half, then it won't be done properly. If he says a couple of hours, run

sean1141

haha no bother. a lot of people get mixed up with detailing and giving the car a polish and wax! if he has experience restoring paint work he should be able to do it but if it came down to giving a panel beater 300 to do it or a detailer 300 to do it i know who i would pick!!
http://vagdrivers.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=38791

http://vagdrivers.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=38792

http://www.carcare.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=251

http://www.carcare.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=248

http://www.carcare.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=202

some examples of some detailers work!

oisin_t

Seperate wrote: »

You can just ask him how long it will take. If he says anything less then a day or a day and a half, then it won't be done properly. If he says a couple of hours, run

ok! ha. well i was just talking to a mate there and he has a fair bit of the stuff needed, so itl save money to just do it myself!

oisin_t

sean1141 wrote: »

haha no bother. a lot of people get mixed up with detailing and giving the car a polish and wax! if he has experience restoring paint work he should be able to do it but if it came down to giving a panel beater 300 to do it or a detailer 300 to do it i know who i would pick!!
http://vagdrivers.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=38791

http://vagdrivers.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=38792

http://www.carcare.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=251

http://www.carcare.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=248

http://www.carcare.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=202

some examples of some detailers work!

man thats impressive!

sean1141

like i said them detailers are not simple!

oisin_t

oisin_t wrote: »

But if the Prelude responded well then the teg should aswell!

Before and after of the Prelude.....